Famished
by moms2398
Summary: Cameron meets someone...Rated for some thickly veiled innuendo CM/OC Preship, HET . Chapter two has one small season 2 spoiler, slight Danny whumping and our team saving the day. Edited and reposted for your enjoyment. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Cameron Mitchell sat back, relaxed, in the wooden chair and stretched a long, denim encased leg out in front of him as he raised a long-neck bottle of beer to his lips. He smiled as he watched the girl on stage singing for a cowboy to take her away from everything. His blue eyes glanced around him, out of habit, surveying the room for any possible threats, even in a little honky-tonk in a small town in New Mexico.

The waitress, a pretty, curvy, blonde dressed in too short shorts and a too tight t-shirt and high heels, came to collect the empty bottle and asked if he wanted another.

As he said yes, he sat up long enough to write a request on a napkin and give it to her with a tip. She looked at the request and smiled. "She doesn't do Shania, sweetheart. Anything else?"

Cameron stuck his lower lip out in a pout and motioned for her to give back the paper. He crossed the words out and thought for a moment. Then he wrote something else and she read it.

With a smile, she nodded and walked it over to the stage and put it inside the bowl and pointed back to Cam. Without a pause, the singer looked over to him and he put two fingers to his forehead in a miniature salute.

When she was done with the song she was singing, she reached into the bowl and read the note. She looked back at Cam and smiled. Then she turned her back to the audience and gave the band instructions. The band started jamming and the singer started dancing until it was time for her to start singing. She belted out the song Cam had requested about a woman who was tired of the run of the mill and was headed to a Mississippi riverboat for the weekend.

While she sang, Cam watched the line dancers take over the floor and jump and gyrate until the song was over and they were breathless. A few songs later, the band took a break and Cam watched the singer move to the bar.

He'd been watching her on stage all evening, but enjoyed the view now that she was a bit closer, especially when she leaned over the bar to reach for a bottle of water. Her legs were long and shapely, starting in high-heeled boots that disappeared under nearly skin-tight jeans and ending with a nicely rounded backside. Her waist was tiny and covered by a black shirt that opened just enough above full, but not large, breasts to leave something to the imagination. Her red hair touched her shoulders and disappeared inside a straw-colored hat. Her chin was gently squared, her lips were full, her nose was straight and Cam found himself wanting to know what color her eyes were under that hat.

She turned around and leaned against the bar and two barely legal girls approached her. She spoke to them, smiling and happened to glance toward Cam. Their eyes met and she looked back, quickly, at the girls. After a moment, her eyes found his again and quickly looked away again.

The third time she looked, he was smiling and wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to smile as she turned away after the girls left. She took a long drink from her water, then looked over her shoulder.

He wasn't there anymore and she placed the bottle on the bar in front of her and started to turn.

"Lookin' for me?" he asked, suddenly behind her.

She gasped, but quickly found her composure. "Nope. Why would I be?"

Cam leaned on the bar next to her and shrugged. "Don't know. I hear you don't do Shania songs."

She shook her head. "Nope. Had a boyfriend once who called out her name while we were…" she paused and looked at him from under the down-turned brim of her hat. Her blue eyes twinkled and her smile was sly as she continued. "Intimate."

"Ouch," Cam winced. "Not good."

"Definitely not good." She looked him up and down as she drank again from her water bottle. "You're not a regular here."

"Nope," he smiled, using her word. "Just passing through."

She pouted. "Too bad." She placed the empty water bottle down on the bar and touched a manicured finger to his chin as she walked away, back to the stage where her band was waiting.

Cam took a deep breath and let it out with a whistle. With a smile, he moved back to the table and pulled out his wallet. He put more than what he figured his bill would be on the table and walked out, looking back as the beautiful singer started singing about the consequences of cheating.

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Cameron Mitchell walked into Dr. Daniel Jackson's office and stopped in his tracks. Stargate Command's leading archaeologist and linguist had a woman in his office. Not just any woman, a woman he was laughing with. She was pretty and tall and laughing with her hand on Daniel's arm in a familiar way that made Cam think there might be a bit of something there.

Cameron coughed and Daniel looked up, and the smile melted, slightly, as he straightened. "Hello," he said.

Cameron smiled. "Hello, Dr. Jackson. Am I interrupting something?"

Daniel smiled at the woman standing next to him. He shook his head. "Mandy was just telling me a joke."

Cameron smiled. "Really? Hello, Mandy."

Mandy was staring at him, with her smile frozen on her face, until he said her name. That seemed to jolt her awake. "Hello. Colonel Mitchell, right?"

He nodded. "And you are Mandy."

She grinned. "Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D."

Cameron smiled at her, turning up the charm. "Doctor Mandy."

Her smile tightened and she looked at Daniel with a wink. "I'll let you get back to work, Daniel." She turned to Cameron and smiled even wider. "Colonel Mitchell."

Cameron couldn't help watching her go, then turned to Daniel. "So, what was so funny?"

"I don't think it would make sense to you, Cameron. No offense but it is the subtle play on Ancient Egyptian that makes it funny."

Cam picked up an artifact and started looking at it. "That looked like something promising."

Daniel reached out and plucked the artifact from his teammate and friend. "Oh? How so?"

"Come on, Daniel," Cam scoffed. "I think she's into you."

Daniel eyebrows rose and his eyes narrowed. "What?" He started to smile again. "What are you talking about?"

Cameron shrugged. "I could be wrong."

Daniel nodded and pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Yes, well, I think so."

Cameron chuckled. "Have you eaten?"

"What? Oh, yes. I had lunch – "

"It's dinnertime."

"It's dinnertime?"

"Yep," Cameron started to touch another artifact.

Daniel knew that Cameron was more different from Jack than they were alike, but Cameron had the same ADHD tendencies that could lend to things getting broken as his dear best friend. It was times like these, when Cam's actions reminded Daniel of Jack, that Daniel missed Jack most. In times like these, Daniel knew that using the same methods to handle Cam as he used to use with Jack was the ticket.

Quickly moving the artifact in question out of reach and agreeing to go to dinner was just the thing to get Cameron away from precious items that could not be replaced if broken.

Unfortunately, Daniel realized as they walked to the cafeteria, Cameron was as persistent at annoying questions as Jack was.

"So, who is this Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D.?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "She is a linguist and a member of my staff. She is a specialist in Native American languages, particularly those of the South and Western United States, but she speaks around twenty languages in addition to the thirteen or so Native American languages she knows."

Cameron whistled. "So she knows almost as many languages as you."

Daniel grinned. "Yes. Almost. We're colleagues and that is all."

Cameron held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I believe you." He said it in a way that read, "I don't really believe you," and Daniel sighed.

Samantha Carter arrived in the mess at the same time Daniel and Cameron arrived. "Wow, Daniel, two meals in a row. How'd you do it, Cam?"

Cam smiled. "I started touching his stuff."

Daniel stopped and stared at Cam.

Cam wiggled his eyebrows and smiled.

Daniel then shook his head and went to retrieve a tray to get his food.

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Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D. was moving down the hall on Level 19 of the SGC, reading as she walked. Suddenly, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Dr. Mandy!"

She fought the tightening in her jaw and turned to see Cameron Mitchell dressed in a flight suit that fit him like a leather glove walking toward her.

"What's up, Doc?"

She pursed her lips to fight a smile. "Could you please stop calling me Dr. Mandy?"

Cam's eyebrows rose. "Really? Okay, sure, fine." He shrugged.

"Daniel – er, Dr. Jackson is the only one who gets away with that and he learned it from my father. I'd really rather be called Amanda, or Dr. Laguerre, which ever you prefer."

Cam smiled. "I can call you Amanda?"

A sudden smile split her face as she opened the door to her lab. "As long as you don't call me Shania."

Cam frowned. "What?"

She wiggled her eyebrows and disappeared inside the lab.

Teal'c turned the corner on Level 19 and found Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell staring at a closed door with a thoroughly perplexed look on his face. "Is there something wrong, ColonelMitchell?"

Cam's eyes lingered on the door as his head turned slowly toward Teal'c. Finally, the eyes moved from the door to the tall Jaffa. "What? Oh. No, Teal'c. I don't think…actually, I'm not sure."

Teal'c's right eyebrow rose.

"I need to talk to Daniel." Cameron frowned. "See ya later, big guy." As he passed, he patted Teal'c's shoulder.

Teal'c acknowledged the younger man's departure with a nod, then, with a look that read "I'll never understand these Tau'ri" proceeded down the hall to his original destination.

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Cameron Mitchell walked into Daniel Jackson's office and stood, expectantly in front of the archaeologist until he looked up from the text he was translating.

"Yes?" Daniel said, finally.

"Tell me about Dr. Laguerre."

Daniel looked up at Cam, surprised. He frowned. "What – what do you want to know?"

"Where is she from? How do you know her father? Do I know her and not know it?"

Daniel smiled. "Now, how would I know if you know her or not?"

Cameron looked impatient. "Come on, Jackson. Spill."

"She is from a small town in New Mexico and I met her father when we were returning from Sheppard Air Force Base last year after some training we both took there and her hometown is on the way, so we stopped." Daniel explained. After a pause, he smiled. "What makes you think you might know her and not know it?"

Cameron frowned. "You got a map?" He walked around to Daniel's computer and opened the link to Internet Explorer. He found Google Maps and plotted a route to Wichita Falls, Texas from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked, thoroughly amused.

"Clayton. She's… Clayton…" he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Cameron rose and walked out. "Thanks, Doc." he called out over his shoulder.

Daniel chuckled. Then, the thought to call his friend and colleague popped into his head.

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"Why would he be on his way here?"

Cameron walked into the lab and found Amanda Laguerre on the phone.

"You're right. He's here. You'll have to tell me how you do that sometime. Yeah." she snickered. "You're probably right. I'll talk to you later."

"Jackson?" Cameron asked when she hung up the phone.

She smiled at him. "Can I help you with something, Colonel?"

"Clayton, New Mexico."

Her eyebrows rose. "What about it?"

"I was there not too long ago. It's a small, but pleasant town in the northeast corner of New Mexico, where I stopped for a bite to eat. There was a little saloon with a band and a singer."

Her eyebrows rose and she smiled a closed-mouth, crooked smile.

Cameron moved to the other side of the desk where he could see her better. Her hair was red and tied up in an efficient bun, a lab-coat hid her figure but nothing could disguise the way her blue eyes danced. He moved slowly and closer to her as he spoke.

"This singer wouldn't sing Shania songs because a boyfriend had called her Shania during…" he was moving closer. "An intimate moment."

"'Ouch. Not good'," her smile now showed her teeth.

"Funny, that's what I said."

"Is it?" She tried to feign innocence, but the smile ruined it.

"Sure is." He was right next to her now, and leaned his long body against the lab table like a cowboy at a bar. "Thing is, though, I never got her name. And she was wearing this hat, so I never really got a real good look at her face."

She tried to fight the smile by sticking her bottom lip out in a pseudo-pout as she said. "Aw. Now that's just too bad. You didn't tell me it was going to be sad story."

"Oh, yeah. Tragic, really. See this lady singer asked if I was new in town and I said that I was only passing through. She said 'Too bad.' Really crushing for a guy to think he might get lucky if only he could afford the time to stick around for a while."

A laugh escaped her. "If only," she chuckled in an attempt to recover her composure.

"That's what I said. All the way back to Colorado Springs."

"Really?" She seemed surprised, for a moment, but recovered nicely when he said:

"Yep. And who do you suppose that lady singer was?"

"Jennifer Nettles?"

"Jenn--" he frowned. "Cute. No, but it was a Sugarland song she sang instead of my Shania request."

"Really, how coincidental."

Cameron straightened. "So did you know who I was then?"

"Me?" Her hand touched the base of her neck in a grand Southern gesture.

His smile was gone and his blue eyes drilled into her. "Yes, you."

But she wouldn't even pretend to be intimidated.

"The very first time you and I really met was that day in Daniel's office." Amanda grinned. "I had never set eyes on you before…seeing you at my grandfather's place in Clayton. I had no idea who you were then and was seriously not interested in getting 'lucky' with a cowboy who was 'just passing through'."

"So why didn't you say anything when we met in Jackson's office?"

She smiled. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't remmmm--I asked you first."

This time she laughed with her mouth open. "Well, I knew who you were as soon as you spoke in Daniel's office, but, if you didn't remember, I wasn't going to remind you." She tilted her head. "Nobody here knows about my singing."

Cameron smiled. "Just to let you know: I'm pretty much set here. Not passing through. How 'bout you?"

Amanda's smiled melted slightly and she looked up at him. She examined his face and found only honesty. Then she smiled again, but differently. "I'm not passing through."

She looked down and then back up at him, chewing her lip. "Did you have something on your mind?"

Cameron was close enough to her at this point to see that there were freckles under the thin layer of makeup on her face and he could smell vanilla and flowers. He looked serious as he responded to her big blue eyes.

"How about dinner?"

"When? Where?"

He looked at his watch. "How 'bout now? Not terribly romantic, but I have a briefing in an hour. I'm hungry now, if you are."

Her eyes were searching his face again and after a moment, she smiled, saucily. "Famished."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: This is something I've never done before. It is a follow-up story for "Famished". This one is a bit more meaty than the other and, hopefully, not disappointing for those who requested the follow-up._

A week had passed since Cameron Mitchell's impromptu date with Amanda Laguerre. He'd gone on a mission since and was just returning to work after two days down time. His whole team was supposed to be off base during that time, as per Dr. Lam's orders, but Cam knew that Sam and Daniel had probably beaten him back despite the fact that he was early.

He checked in and had coffee with Sam, then went to find Daniel, but decided to take a detour on the way to say hello to Amanda.

The door to her office was closed, so he knocked. It took a moment, then she answered. "Coming."

She opened the door just far enough for Cam to see that there was an SF with her, but not far enough to indicate to him that he was welcome to enter.

"Hello, Doc," he smiled.

"Colonel Mitchell," she frowned. She held up her hand to keep him from speaking and said, quickly. "Before you ask, I haven't gotten the latest results from the Foothold Project. As soon as Doctor Jackson," she seemed to put emphasis on Daniel's name, "communicates with me, you will be the first to know."

Mitchell frowned. "Oh-kay…"

"I promise I'll let you know. Excuse me."

With that, she closed the door.

Cam stood processing what had just happened when something from what she said popped like a firecracker in his head. "Foothold." Cam was tempted to tear into Amanda's office and take down who ever was in there with her, but her emphasis of Daniel's name made him think there was more to it than just one Special Forces imposter.

He turned and took off running down the hall, toward Daniel's office.

"Colonel Mitchell!"

Cam stopped and turned to see Teal'C jogging toward him.

"What is the reason for your haste?"

Cam frowned. "Not sure, exactly, but I'm thinking we might have a Foothold Situation here."

Teal'C's eye's narrowed and he drew up tall. "Then why have you not alerted the base?"

"Because Amanda Laguerre has at least one of them in with her, if I understood her message correctly. And Daniel might also." Cam frowned. "Right now, I'm hoping that her captor does not realize that I know something is up. If I sound the alarm…"

"The intruders may kill DoctorLaguerre as well as DanielJackson," Teal'C intoned.

"Yeah," Cam thought for a moment. "Teal'C, you go let General Landry know what's going on while I go check on Daniel."

"Will your 'checking on him' not endanger him as well?"

Cam took a deep breath. "It might, but I have to make sure he's okay as of right now. She could have been telling me that he's hurt."

Teal'C nodded and turned. As he ran through the corridor toward the elevator to descend to level 27 and Landry's office, Cam turned the corner to the hall where Daniel's office waited.

Daniel's door was closed. This was odd in and of itself. Whenever he was in, the door was open. The only time he closed the door is when he was off base – either on a mission or home. Cam knew Daniel had signed into the base; he'd checked when he arrived. That's how he'd known that both Daniel and Sam had returned earlier.

Cam knocked on the door and waited.

He knocked again.

He was about to knock again, when Daniel opened the door. Just as Amanda had, Daniel only opened the door a little bit.

"Doctor Jackson," Cam started before Daniel could say anything. "Dr. Laguerre told me that you're the reason the 'Foothold Project' has been delayed. Is this true?"

"The 'Foothold Project'," Daniel held Cam's eyes and nodded slowly. "Yes." He took a deep breath. "I'm in the middle of something and as soon as I'm finished, I will get her those _two_ translations. Sorry for the delay."

Cam used his best 'I'm in charge' voice. "Well, this other thing you're working on better be damned important if you think it takes precedence over the project."

Daniel nodded. "It is, sir."

Cam almost choked at Daniel calling him 'sir'.

"But I hope to be finished with it soon and will get Dr. Laguerre those translations as soon as possible."

Cam nodded. "Carry on, then."

Daniel nodded and started to close the door, stepping back slightly, allowing Cam to see past him, but the door swung closed more quickly than Daniel would have wanted.

Cam, now fully convinced, walked calmly to the corner then sprinted to the elevator. While there, he called for Samantha to meet him in the security office.

"What is this 'Foothold Project'?"

Daniel looked at the man dressed in a Special Forces uniform. Not for the first time, he wondered how the man got past base security all the times it took to get this far into the mountain. "It is a project that allows us to detect alien incursions into the base."

"I thought that kind of threat ceased with the advent of the iris," the woman in BDUs commented.

"Well, we did too." Daniel said, slowly. "But we have since discovered aliens who have the technology to walk through the iris, as well as solid walls."

"So what do a couple of philologists contribute to such a project?" She asked.

Daniel paused. "I should get back to looking if I'm going to find that object you want."

The man stepped forward. "Answer the question."

"The device that is being constructed is something we found blueprints for on an alien world. Dr. Laguerre and I have been working on multiple sources to try and piece together a translation. We're almost done." Daniel spoke hurriedly, adjusting his glasses while looking at his table.

"Find the object," the woman instructed, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

"You know you won't get off the base," Amanda Laguerre was telling her captor. "They'll lock it down and catch you before you reach the surface."

"Not if you're dead."

Amanda stiffened as a chill raced down her spine. She refused to let the shaking in her guts show itself to her captor. "If I die, so do you," she said, softly.

The man stepped closer to her. "What was that?"

"Have you ever heard of the Great Blue Wall? It's a police term that indicates how a police force will band together and become impenetrable when one of their own is attacked. Well, the military is a bigger, greener version of that."

A malevolent smirk curled back the lips of the big man. "But you're not military. You're a civilian."

Amanda swallowed. "Good point. So I'm like a little sister to the brotherhood."

The man's smirk faded and his eyes narrowed. "The object."

Amanda nodded and turned back to the shelves she was looking through.

"They've disabled the cameras."

Samantha looked up at Cam, who cursed.

"What exactly did Dr. Laguerre say?" General Hank Landry demanded.

"She said that she hadn't gotten the results of the 'Foothold Project' yet and that when she did I'd be the first to know. Then I talked to Daniel he confirmed a 'Foothold Project' with 'two translations'."

"I believe DanielJackson was telling us that two people were in the room with him," Teal'C surmised.

"I agree," Sam said. "So how many are with Laguerre?"

"I only saw one."

"Well, Foothold definitely means intruders," Sam said. "But how did they get here? There hasn't been any gate activity in the last 24 hours."

"So they either came through before that or they came from outside." Cam started bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious to do something.

"What do we do then? If there are only three, we can overpower them with numbers, but--" Sam started.

"But they may kill Laguerre or Jackson in the process," Cameron pronounced, lowly.

Sam looked at Cameron miserably and nodded.

"Well, I think the best thing we can do is wait." Landry said. "Post teams in the corridors. They have to come out at sometime and we'll take them by surprise and overpower them in a more confined space. Hopefully, that'll make it easier for us to get Drs. Laguerre and Jackson to safety as well."

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Daniel frowned at the woman as he searched through the computer database for the item these people were searching for. He was praying that the delay would give Mitchell enough time to find a way to apprehend his captors.

The woman's eyes met his and narrowed. "I am losing my patience, Doctor. Perhaps I should call to my friend and have him persuade your colleague with a more permanent method."

Daniel realized he was out of time, then. "It's where I told you it would be: Area 51."

The woman stood, her face red with anger. "It _cannot be_!" She moved to the other side of the computer.

Daniel stood and backed up, hands raised, slightly. "Look for yourself." He continued. "We can not possibly keep everything here. The storage facilities are simply not big enough. When we get something potentially very useful, we usually send it to Area 51 for their scientists to work on."

She glared at him. "Well, I guess we will have to maintain our acquaintance for a bit longer." She put the radio to her mouth. "We found it."

_Affirmative. Will meet you at the lift._

Daniel frowned. "What are you planning?"

She smiled, but it wasn't a pretty smile. "You are going to take us to Area 51, Dr. Jackson."

He shook his head. "No." He said, firmly. "I'm not."

The man leveled his gun and Daniel.

"That is, not until I know Dr. Laguerre is safe."

The man paused and looked at the woman. The woman looked back down to the computer screen.

"Tell your man to release Dr. Laguerre. I'll help you get out of the mountain but you have to let her go."

The woman looked up from the listing on the computer record and, with a smile, said. "Sure. She's of no further use to us anyway."

Her accomplice used some kind of communication device to call Amanda's captor. "Leave her and meet us at the elevator."

"_We found it."_

"Affirmative. Will meet you at the lift." The man looked at Amanda, who was still searching. "You can stop."

She stopped and turned.

The man's 9mm was aimed at her.

"Wait." She held up her hands and began to back away. "Think about this. Right now, only Dr. Jackson and I know you're not who you are supposed to be. You fire that thing in here and the whole mountain will be here in minutes."

The man smiled as he deliberately drew a silencer from his pocket. "I see your point."

Amanda gulped as he screwed the thing onto his weapon. She looked around, her mind racing, searching for anything…

Suddenly, her inner smartass spoke up. _Duh, Amanda! You have a table full of artifacts next to you._

The archaeologist in her screamed as she moved closer to the table. Reestablishing eye contact and ranting incoherently in hopes of distracting him from her hands, she reached out and grabbed a palate, used for the application of ceremonial body paint on PX3-695.

It was flat and round like a Frisbee and, with a jerk of her hand, she sent it flying.

At the same time, she turned to run for the door.

She didn't see the artifact miss its target.

She didn't see the intruder fire his weapon.

She did, however, feel the force of the projectile hitting her and the intense burning as it burrowed into her back. The force propelled her forward and she tried to reach for the red button on the wall to sound the alarm, but missed it. As she continued to fall, she smacked her head against the wall. At the end of what seemed like an endless slow motion scene out of a Quentin Terrintino movie, she lay in a crumpled heap, bleeding and losing consciousness.

_Leave her and meet us at the elevator._

Her attacker confirmed that he was on his way to join them.

She was barely aware of his stepping over her to exit the room. Before he opened the door, the darkness in her periphery enveloped her.

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Teal'C's ears picked up what sounded to him like a scuffle as he waited in the hall, not far from the door of Dr. Laguerre's office. He motioned to the group of Marines with him to remain silent and they waited for the occupants of the room to emerge. The door opened a man stepped out as if it was perfectly normal for him to be there.

The man seemed familiar to Teal'C, but the former First Prime of Apophis was not in the habit of taking unnecessary chances. He shot the man with the _zat-nik-atel _as soon as he closed the door behind him. A Marine rushed out and dragged the man back behind the squad, so that the rest of his team could be ready for anyone else that might emerge.

Teal'C moved cautiously to the door and listened carefully.

"_Teal'C report!"_

Teal'C's radio seemed to scream in the empty hall and he pulled back quickly. "Colonel Mitchell, you must wait momentarily. One human male dressed as a military member has emerged from DoctorLaguerre's office and has been disabled. I am about to enter the office."

"_Got it, Teal'C, be careful."_

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Cameron stood in the corridor outside Daniel's office with a contingent of Marines. He took a deep breath and tried to put Teal'C and Amanda out of his mind. He hated waiting, but could do nothing else. It was doing nothing for his mood.

The door to Daniel's office opened and Cameron and his Marines took cover in around the corner before anyone came out. When Daniel and his two visitors emerged, there was no one to be seen in the hall.

As Cam had hoped, they came toward him. He knew that Sam's team of Marines would be coming in from the other side to keep them from retreating back into Daniel's office. There was no where else for them to go.

Daniel saw him first, then the woman, who took up station behind him and the man, who took the rear and turned to face backwards when they were stopped.

"Mitchell."

"Jackson."

"You have to let me pass."

"I don't think so."

"They have Dr. Laguerre hostage. They'll kill her if I don't go with them."

Cam frowned, willing Teal'C to call in.

"Where are they taking you?"

"Area 51."

The woman jabbed her gun into Daniel's back hard enough to make him wince and take another step.

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Teal'C opened the door and pointed his _zat-nik-atel _inside. He saw the crumpled, bleeding form of Dr. Laguerre on the floor. His heart sank, but he did not rush to her side. To do so, he reminded himself, would be unwise if another intruder remained in the room. Mitchell may have only seen one, but that didn't negate the possibility of more.

Slowly, he nudged the door open further, crouched low. He looked around the room and saw it empty except for the woman lying prone near him. He moved forward and reached to her.

"ColonelMitchell, Dr. Laguerre is secure."

_Got it._

"She has been injured."

Teal'C didn't receive an answer right away and switched channels momentarily to call for medical assistance.

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_ColonelMitchell, DoctorLaguerre is secure._

Cameron narrowed his eyes at Daniel, whose eyes narrowed back. He keyed his radio and responded. "Got it." He looked at Daniel. "So, you see—"

_She has been injured._

Cameron stopped what he was saying.

Daniel's eyes widened. Without thinking, he swung around to face his captors. "You told me that she would be released! There was nothing about hurting her!"

The woman's eyes narrowed and she leveled her gun at him. "You're going to help us, Doctor. You're going to get us out of here. If you don't…"

Daniel shook his head. "If I don't nothing happens. You shoot me, twenty or thirty Marines shoot you and your friend. I'm willing to take the risk, are you?" His hands were still partly up in a non-threatening manner, but he lifted them a bit more. "Put your weapons down and we can all walk out of here alive."

"Jackson." Cameron's voice warned.

"No," he waved behind him. "It's okay. She's going to put the gun down, right? You're going to give me the gun."

The woman frowned at him and looked behind him. Then she looked behind her to where her friend was. Finally, she smiled. "Sorry, Doctor Jackson. We've got orders."

She used her thumb to release the safety.

Daniel's eyes widened and he moved to leap out of the way.

She pulled the trigger.

He jumped.

The bullet grazed his shoulder and he fell to the ground as Mitchell's bullet flew through the air and found its target between the eyes of the woman who'd taken his friend hostage.

The woman flew backwards, into her partner and he raised his weapon.

"Don't do it!" Sam yelled, taking aim. "Drop it!"

The man, instead, put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger.

Daniel covered his head with his hands as shards of bone and globs of tissue rained down on him.

Still holding his weapon at the ready, Cameron approached. "Jackson?"

He lifted his head and looked up. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay."

Cameron nodded and offered his hand.

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When the medics arrived with a stretcher, Amanda was conscious. She was squeezing Teal'C's hand as waves of pain moved through her body.

Teal'C smiled down on her as she lay on her side. She'd gained consciousness while one of the SFs was dressing her gunshot wound. He would not allow her to move, citing the possibility of spinal cord injury. She had a cut and large bruise on her forehead from the impact with the wall. Her breathing was clear and regular, except for the occasional catch when the pain hit her, but the breath, the occasional grimace and the tightening grip were the only signs that she was in pain at all.

"Thank you for staying with me."

"You are very brave, DoctorLaguerre," he intoned, soothingly.

She shook her head, weakly. "I'm scared to death. Daniel?"

Teal'C looked up. "I have not been in contact with ColonelMitchell."

_Teal'C, respond._

Teal'C looked down at Amanda, with his eyebrow raised as Cameron called, seemingly at the mention of his name. He keyed his mike. "I am here."

_The situation has been contained. How is Doctor Laguerre?_

Teal'C felt her squeeze his hand again. "She lives."

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Cameron looked at Daniel, whose arm was being bandaged, and shook his head. "How's that for not specific?"

Daniel frowned and shook his head.

"I'll take it that she is okay?" Cam clarified.

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Teal'C looked down at Amanda as she was loaded on the gurney. She nodded at him with a grimace and smiled.

"She is on her way to the infirmary. She is quite strong."

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Hours later, Amanda was out of surgery and Daniel was patched up. Cameron and Teal'C were interrogating the one surviving "bad guy" as Cameron called him, while Daniel sat by Amanda's bed as she awoke.

Daniel smiled down at Amanda, as she lay in the infirmary bed. "How are you feeling?"

Amanda smiled, slightly. "Like I've been shot and had _needles_ poked in me." She made the needles sound worse than the bullet.

Daniel smiled a bit wider. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

Amanda's eyebrows came together. "Why? Did you poke the needles in me?" One eyebrow rose, expectantly.

"If you hadn't come to work for me…"

"I would have gotten hit by a truck somewhere else. Stop, Daniel. Just don't start, okay?"

Daniel looked down at his hand, then back at her and nodded.

"Do you remember when you met my father?"

Daniel smiled. "Vividly."

Amanda frowned. "Wonderful." she deadpanned. After a minute, she continued. "Remember after dinner, when I told my parents I was going to be working for you?"

Daniel smiled a bit wider. "I remember a rousing rendition of 'Mandy'."

"Ass."

Daniel chuckled.

"Before that. When we both told my father that working with the Air Force did not necessarily mean danger. You told him that the mountain was the 'safest place on Earth'."

Daniel frowned. "Yes," he murmured softly.

"Well, we're not going to tell him about this, okay? If we do, he'll be here to try 'to inspect the base' and the last thing I need for him to do is to show up here, singing Barry Manilow."

Daniel chuckled. "Deal." He picked at the blanket that covered her and said. "However, I reserve the right to sing it myself."

Amanda narrowed her eyes. "Ass." She glared at him, but her eyes danced. "Go 'way. I need my sleep."

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Cameron moved quietly into the infirmary, late, after hours of interrogation. He moved next past Siler, recuperating from yet another accident, with a wave and walked over to where Amanda's bed was hidden by a screen.

He stopped next to the screen and debated for a moment whether or not to enter. Finally, he decided to peek in.

She was sitting up in bed, braced by a mountain of pillows, reading.

"Thought you'd be sleeping."

She looked up at him. "You thought I'd be asleep and you still came by?"

Cam nodded, his eyes roaming her face, assessing the damage. She'd arranged her hair to hide most of the bruising, but there was a bandage on her head. "Yeah."

She smiled. "Sweet."

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's me."

She rolled her eyes, but continued to smile.

"How are you?" he asked.

She nodded slightly. "Sore. I've never been shot before," she shrugged. "But I'm good. Doctor Lam's letting me out tomorrow evening."

He moved closer to her bed. He looked thoughtful.

"So, who were they?"

He looked up with an expression that said his thoughts had been interrupted. "Oh. Ah. Former members of the Trust who wanted an object that allows someone to scan for Go'auld possessed people. Apparently, this thing was used by a bounty hunter to track down a Tokra that had taken over Sam way back when and it's been sitting in Area 51 all this time. These guys didn't like the idea that the Trust was being overrun by Go'auld and wanted a way to ferret them out."

Amanda sighed. "Well, I hope you make sure that thing is placed under maximum security." She frowned. "How did they get past security?"

He shook his head. "The better question is how did they get into the system? They were all holding valid passkeys and identifications." He waved his hand in the air. "I didn't come to talk about that."

She smiled. "So, what do we talk about?"

"I came by this morning to tell you that I enjoyed our dinner the other evening."

"I did, too."

"I'd like to be the one to take you home tomorrow, if it's okay."

She warmed under his gaze and shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to."

He frowned at her. "Hey." He took her hand and held her gaze. "I know I don't _have_ to. I want to."

She smiled and nodded. "Maybe I can come up with something for us to eat."

"Take out," he said, firmly, his blue eyes boring into her. "I'm buying."

"I have the latest Sugarland CD." She offered. "We can get steak and beer and play the music real loud and pretend that we're back in Clayton."

He grinned. "I don't know…will it end the same?"

She grinned. "Well, only because of the medical issues."

His eyebrows rose. "Really?" He smiled. "So if you hadn't gotten shot, you would have been okay with 'getting lucky with a cowboy'?"

She laughed. "Maybe."

He frowned. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"To bust that guy in the mouth…again."

She laughed and grabbed his hand. "Don't go! I'm sure you staying with me will help me heal faster than going away." She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Hmmm," he grinned, thoughtfully. "Then I'm stayin'."

She scooted over in the bed and invited him to sit with her while they began to talk.

Hours later, Dr. Lam moved the curtain to find Dr. Laguerre asleep on Colonel Cameron Mitchell's shoulder as he slept.


End file.
